Bangkok governor candidates from two main parties have close popularity

BANGKOK, January 23 (TNA) - A recent poll showed that Bangkok gubernatorial candidates of two major political parties had close popularity, but undecided people remained the majority of the respondents. The poll, conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) on 1,500 people, aged 18 and over, in Bangkok from January 17-19, found that 20.60 per cent of the respondents would vote for M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the main opposition Democrat Party and 19.13 per cent for Police General Pongsapat Pongcharoen of the ruling Pheu Thai Party. The NIDA Poll found, however, that more than half of the respondents, or 52.80 per cent, had not made up their mind and 1.13 per cent would even not vote. Regarding the results of the survey, Banjerd Singkaneti, dean of NIDA’s Law School, acknowledged that independent candidates were at a disadvantage because they had no vote bases as those of the major political parties had. Besides, the proportion of undecided eligible voters remained huge possibly because they had not heard candidates elaborating on their policies. The dean suggested that independent candidates could draw support from voters in Bangkok if they had good policies and could convince them that they would administer the capital efficiently and improve their quality of life. (TNA)